The Pediatric Praziquantel Consortium, launched in 2012 as an international non-profit public-private partnership, has announced that it has been awarded a prestigious research grant from the Japanese Global Health Innovative Technology (GHIT) Fund. The grant supports the Consortium’s clinical development programme of a newly developed praziquantel pediatric formulation targeted for use in very young children, including infants and toddlers, infected with schistosomiasis.
"GHIT grants are awarded on the basis of a highly competitive, double peer review process, which underlines the importance of a newly developed praziquantel pediatric medication for millions of infected children in the developing world" said Annalisa Jenkins, chair of the consortium board and head of global R&D at Merck Serono. "We very much look forward to working with the GHIT Fund and are grateful for its support in addressing the global health burden that schistosomiasis represents,” she added.
BT Slingsby, CEO of the GHIT Fund, said: “We welcome collaboration with the Pediatric Praziquantel Consortium. This project will enable Japanese formulation technology and innovation to play a more direct role in the fight against the second-most severe tropical disease in Africa.”
